Village of Conformity
by Fullmetal224
Summary: Ed, Al and Razi are looking for some people that have gone missing in recent times under strange circumstances. When they find a village where everyone is treated equally, is it as great as the villagers make it out to be? Or is there some dark secret behind the all the villagers' strange smiles?


**Village of Conformity**

 **Chapter One: Entrance**

"Ugh…remind me why we're walking practically to the middle of nowhere?" Edward groaned as he trudged in the sandy wasteland that was the southwestern area of Amestris. His younger brother Alphonse walked beside him to his right, and Razi walked to his left, her purple feline head down and her pace slowing just as much as Ed's, even though she had two extra legs to carry her in this form. Al only slowed to their pace so he wouldn't leave the two behind, but if they didn't pick up the pace soon they would never reach their destination.

"The colonel wanted us to investigate this area for the people who had gone missing. The families who filed missing person's reports said their members went out to do business, since almost all of them were merchants, and they never came home. So far about 15 people are missing now, including a military officer."

"Couldn't they have gotten someone else to do this investigation!?" Razi shouted in frustration, lifting her head up to maximize the volume in her voice. "I mean, if a military officer went missing, wouldn't that send up a red flag right there!?"

"It did, but three days after the officer left he sent a note to Central HQ saying he didn't want to come back and wanted no one to come looking for him; that he was perfectly fine where he was now."

"That doesn't mean they should send us to do their dirty work…" She grumbled.

"Yea, but the colonel said if we refused that the local circus was looking for new attractions, and you would be just right for the job…" Ed swore under his breath after ending the sentence, knowing the colonel wouldn't dare send the magic lioness away but nonetheless agreed if only to get the bastard off his back.

"Hey, Razi…you think I could get a ride on your back? My feet are killing me…" Ed looked pleadingly to the lioness who even in her feral form was about his height from paw to head. Ed could easily mount her like a horse, if it wasn't for Razi actually having a voice to give her opinions on the matter.

"Yea, right…I'm having trouble keeping up myself, I don't need you on my back adding extra dead weight. Until you break your feet I'm sure you'll survive walking a little longer." Blunt and to the point, Razi left no room for arguing or begging (not that Ed would stoop so low to beg, but still) as they continued their journey.

It wasn't too much longer before they all could hear faint chatter, like people talking up ahead. With renewed vigor the three ran a short distance before seeing a village on the horizon. From up on the small dune they could see four rows of houses, five houses in each row and a wide gap with a fountain separating two rows from another two. A little distance from the houses was a much larger house, more likely a manor where the head of the village would live. On the left side of the fountain and a few yards away was a stone building, looking appropriate for a possible jailhouse. People were scattered left, right and at the fountain, but contrary to the village's many houses the population seemed small.

"Wanna bet this is where all of those missing people went?" Ed muttered to no one in particular as he started to lead the other two inside the village.

"Wait, Ed!" Razi harshly whispered as she used her mouth to tug on Ed's coat. Ed's eyes widened, losing his footing for a moment before catching himself. He turned to Razi, a look of realization on his face, and nodded as he motioned for her to hide behind Al.

Razi did so, and after seeing the lioness stand on her hind legs and a flash of red light, out from behind Alphonse was a human girl, dark purple hair held in a ponytail with black ribbon, jet-black eyes, a black tank-top worn with khaki pants barely reaching her knees, and a small white jacket accompanied by black high-tops. This outfit had replaced the black hooded cloak her feral form wore, and with a nod she signaled she was ready to enter with the brothers.

Their entrance went unnoticed for the most part, but the villagers who had noticed the newcomers smiled so big it almost seemed forced, and the trio wondered if this was a sort of greeting as if they were the ones from another world. Then again, Razi noticed all of the villagers had strange metal bands around their arms and legs, the men more than the women, and each band had a number ranging from 10 to 20. They all had strange plugs in their ears as well, looking like mini skin-colored radios lodged in their ears.

It wasn't long before the three reached the fountain, which they assumed to be a sort of town square. Again, not a lot of people were around, but the few people there were smiled at them as they went about their business. One villager, a woman looking around her mid to late 30's walked up to them, and smiled slightly more genuine than the smiles they had been getting.

"Welcome! I haven't seen you three around before! Are you new?" She spoke with the same air as a child, which to all three of them sounded odd when she clearly showed signs of aging.

"Um, yes. We just walked in."

"Oh, that's great! Are you interested in living here as well?" Clearly she skipped some steps in introductions, outright assuming anyone who walked in the village wanted to live there.

"Er-no. Honestly I'd like to live somewhere where I don't feel like I'm literally being watched by a bunch of fake smiling zombies." Razi rolled her eyes at Ed's rudeness to the lady, but the latter didn't seem to take any offense. Her smile didn't even waver in the slightest despite Ed's clear insult to her village.

"Oh, that's too bad. I think you would like it here. Here everyone is treated equally, no one is smarter, stronger, faster or richer than anyone!" Her smile seemed to get bigger with each adjective, and Razi and Alphonse couldn't help but whimper in slight fear of the woman's speech.

Ed for his part found this equally disturbing, even if he didn't show it. He noticed the weights and radios saddled on everyone as well, and by the woman's manner of speaking it dawned on him as well as the other two that this village was far from normal, and they had a bad feeling about it.

' _This can never be easy, can it?_ '

 **END OF CHAPTER ONE**


End file.
